September 24, 2007 (TORONTO) - The lessons came in the backyard, under a southern sun and an 11-foot hoop.</p> Maceo Baston senior was teaching his son, Maceo, the kid who would grow into a Raptor. That the hoop in the backyard of the Dallas home was a foot higher than normal was a matter of strategy and symbolism. The message from the old man to the kid: aim higher. “He was definitely roughing me up,” the younger Baston remembers. “I had a couple of bloody noses. He didn’t take it easy on me at all. But once I went to the eighth grade, I was able to dunk on the 11-foot rims. That still applies now. I’ve been able to jump higher because I set a goal higher than normal. Every day, the two would battle, the kid against a six-foot-nine, 250 pound man. Youth, as it must, as it should, eventually won out. “My confidence grew,” Baston said. “Once I beat him, it was over. I knew the sky was the limit.” There was another set of lessons being imparted. Maceo Baston senior was teaching his young son how to be a man, how to weather and thrive when he was gone. How to aim higher.</p> www.nba.com/raptors/news/ulmer_baston_092407.html</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>“He was definitely roughing me up,” the younger Baston remembers. “I had a couple of bloody noses. He didn’t take it easy on me at all.</div></p> Good to hear about the positive effects of child abuse. </p>
